Factors affecting triage competence among emergency room nurses: A cross-sectional study

Aims and Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine work-related stress, nurse-physician collaboration and clinical reasoning competence to identify the factors that affected the triage competence of emergency room nurses. Background A quick and accurate treatment plan for patients is first determined by a triage nurse. Triage competence is an indispensable requirement for emergency room nurses. Design A cross-sectional design was adopted. Methods The participants comprised 156 emergency room nurses in South Korea who had more than 1 year of experience working in an emergency room. The collected data were analysed using SPSS 28.0. Self-reported data were collected via the Korean Nursing Stress, Nurse-Physician Collaboration, Nurse Clinical Reasoning, Emergency Room Nurse Triage Competence assessing work-related stress, nurse-physician collaboration, clinical reasoning competence and triage competence. In the analyses, multiple regression analysis using the enter method was conducted. We have followed through the STROBE checklist for the preparation of this manuscript. Results Triage competence significantly differed according to the age (F = 9.93, p < .001), clinical experience (F = 18.82, p < .001), emergency department experience (F = 12.07, p < .001), triage experience (t = 4.40, p < .001) and if nurses had a triage certificate (t = 4.85, p < .001). The factors that influenced triage competence included clinical reasoning competence (beta = .36, p < .001), emergency department experience (beta = .21, p = .006), work-related stress (beta = .18, p = .007) and nurse-physician collaboration (beta = -.17, p = .009); these factors accounted for 38.1% of the variance in triage competence. Conclusion The results of this study show that efforts to improve triage competence should be based on clinical reasoning. In addition, an effective plan should be devised to improve nurse-physician collaboration and work-related stress. Relevance to Clinical Practice Education programmes should be developed to enhance clinical reasoning competence in order to improve triage competence. In addition, a method for managing work-related stress among nurses in emergency departments and programmes to enhance collaborative physician-nurse relations should be developed.